Transaction authorization process using blockchain

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for transaction authorizations using a distributed database are disclosed. The system may allow registered transaction account holders and merchants to interact and complete transactions according to workflows enforced by smart contracts. The system may include an issuer system that receives a transaction authorization request comprising a merchant ID, a transaction account number, a transaction amount, and a transaction ID. The issuer system may retrieve a merchant public key and a smart contract based on the merchant ID, and a user public key based on the transaction account number. The issuer system may invoke the smart contract by passing the user public key and the transaction ID to the smart contract. The system may propagate transaction data (e.g., the merchant ID, the transaction account number, the payment amount, a transaction status, etc.) to a blockchain network for writing to a blockchain according to the invoked smart contract.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of copending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/824,513, entitled TRANSACTION AUTHORIZATION PROCESS USINGBLOCKCHAIN and filed on Nov. 28, 2017, which is incorporated byreference as if set forth herein in its entirety.

FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to transaction authorizations andpayments, and more particularly, to systems and methods for transactionauthorizations, payments, and related processes using a distributeddatabase.

BACKGROUND

Payment networks typically implement various systems for processingtransactions between merchants and customers. Merchants are members ofthe payment network and the merchants may be authorized to charge tocustomer accounts. Customers have a transaction account with the paymentnetwork. To complete a transaction, a merchant typically transmits apayment request (or settlement) to the payment network with transactiondetails and the card member's account information. Typically, thepayment network authorizes the payment request by assessing atransaction risk and/or debiting the transaction account. Moreover,parties in the transaction may agree to a contract as part of thetransaction. For example, the parties may agree to a product or servicewarranty, a return policy, a disclaimer, a payment schedule, a refundpolicy, etc.

Payment networks typically face increased costs and limitationsassociated with the traditional payment model. The payment networkimplements secure protocols for handling the payment requests, and suchsecure protocols along with network infrastructure are costly to developand maintain. The high network costs also may result in high feescharged to merchants using the payment network. Additional programssupported by the payment network such as, for example, storing andmaintaining the additional payment contracts for merchant and/orcustomer review, may further increase costs associated with security andinfrastructure.

SUMMARY

A system, method, and computer readable medium (collectively, the“system”) is disclosed for a transaction authorization process usingblockchain. The system may receive a transaction authorization requestcomprising a merchant ID, a transaction account number, a transactionamount, and a transaction ID. The system may retrieve a merchant publickey and a smart contract based on the merchant ID, and a user public keybased on the transaction account number. The system may invoke the smartcontract by passing the user public key and the transaction ID to thesmart contract. The system may propagate the merchant ID, thetransaction account number, the payment amount, and a transaction statusto a blockchain network for writing to a blockchain according to theinvoked smart contract.

In various embodiments, the merchant public key and the user public keycomprise blockchain addresses. A merchant system may be configured torequest the merchant public key and a merchant private key from amerchant blockchain wallet. The smart contract may be selected by themerchant system and deployed to the blockchain. The merchant system maybe configured to transmit the merchant ID, the merchant public key, andthe smart contract to the issuer system to register a merchant-to-smartcontract relationship. The selected smart contract may be generatedbased on input from a merchant regarding a proposed good or service. Theinvoked smart contract may be secured using the merchant private key. Auser device may be configured to request the user public key and a userprivate key from a user blockchain wallet, and transmit the transactionaccount number and the user public key to the issuer system to registera user-to-blockchain relationship. The smart contract may comprise areturn policy, a refund policy, a partial payment schedule, a fullpayment workflow, a service deployment schedule, or a product deliveryschedule.

In various embodiments, a merchant system in electronic communicationwith a merchant blockchain wallet may request a merchant public key anda merchant private key from the merchant blockchain wallet. The merchantsystem may select a smart contract. The merchant system may deploy thesmart contract to a blockchain. The merchant system may transmit themerchant ID, the merchant public key, and the smart contract to theissuer system to register a merchant-to-smart contract relationship

In various embodiments, the selected smart contract may be generatedbased on Input regarding a proposed good or service. The invoked smartcontract may be secured using the merchant private key. In variousembodiments, the merchant system may also transmit a transactionauthorization request comprising a merchant ID, a transaction accountnumber, a transaction amount, and a transaction ID to an issuer system.The issuer system may be configured to retrieve the merchant public keybased on the merchant ID, the smart contract based on the merchant ID,and a user public key based on the transaction account number; invokethe smart contract by passing the user public key and the transaction IDto the smart contract; and propagate the merchant ID, the transactionaccount number, the payment amount, and a transaction status to ablockchain network for writing to a blockchain according to the invokedsmart contract. The merchant public key and the user public key maycomprise blockchain addresses. The selected smart contract comprises areturn policy, a refund policy, a partial payment schedule, a fullpayment workflow, a service deployment schedule, or a product deliveryschedule.

The forgoing features and elements may be combined in variouscombinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated hereinotherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation of thedisclosed embodiments will become more apparent in light of thefollowing description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present disclosure is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification.However, a more complete understanding of the present disclosure may beobtained by referring to the detailed description and claims whenconsidered in connection with the drawing figures, wherein like numeralsdenote like elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary transaction authorization blockchainsystem, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a process flow for merchant registration in atransaction authorization blockchain system, in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a process flow for user registration in atransaction authorization blockchain system, in accordance with variousembodiments; and

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a transaction authorization process in atransaction authorization blockchain system, in accordance with variousembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of various embodiments refers to theaccompanying drawings, which show various embodiments by way ofillustration. While these various embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice thedisclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may berealized and that logical and physical changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description is presented for purposes of illustration only andnot of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of the methodor process descriptions may be executed in any order and are not limitedto the order presented. Moreover, any of the functions or steps may beoutsourced to or performed by one or more third parties. Furthermore,any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, and any referenceto more than one component may include a singular embodiment.

Typical transactions involve an interaction between a buyer (e.g.,customer) and a seller (e.g., service provider, merchant, etc.).Transactions may be accompanied by a contractual agreement between theparties, such as, for example, a warranty, a return policy, follow-upservices, payment schedules, or the like. As discussed further herein,the system may facilitate creation and use of smart contracts thatrecord the transactions and contractual agreements on an immutableledger, facilitate workflow, and provide additional services includingreputation ledgers. In that regard, the system may be more convenientfor customers (e.g., customers no longer need to keep receipts, warrantypaperwork, etc.), and may partially reduce disputes due tomisunderstandings or dishonest behaviors.

The system may employ a traditional account payment network tofacilitate purchases and payments, authorize transactions, and settletransactions. For example, the traditional account payment network mayrepresent existing proprietary networks that presently accommodatetransactions for credit cards, debit cards, and/or other types oftransactional instruments. The traditional account payment network maycomprise an exemplary transaction network such as American Express®,VisaNet®, Mastercard®, Discover®, Interac®, Cartes Bancaires, JCB®,private networks (e.g., department store networks), and/or any otherpayment network.

The system may use a distributed ledger, which may be based on ablockchain and may have consensus-based transaction validation. Suchdistributed ledger may also enable smart contracts that enforce businessworkflows in a decentralized manner and keep track of account balances,proof of purchases, related contracts, and the like. The system may alsoenable reputation based smart contracts that act as a directory oftrustworthy entities as part of the network. The system may also includedigital wallet services deployed on user devices such as, for example,computers, tablets, smartphones, Internet of Things devices (IoTdevices), etc. Anyone can participate in the traditional account paymentnetwork, but in various embodiments, only users (e.g., merchants andtransaction account holders) that register with the managingorganization(s) may interact with smart contracts to autonomously manageworkflows associated with contractual agreements, as described ingreater detail herein.

The system further improves the functioning of the computer and/ornetworked environment. For example, by automating and providing instantor near-instant transaction authorization and storage of relatedtransaction contracts (as opposed to needing a user, third party, or thelike to provide transaction authorization and storage of relatedtransaction contracts), the user performs less computer functions andprovides less input, which saves on data storage and memory, thusspeeding processing in the computer and/or networked environment.

As used herein “electronic communication” means communication of atleast a portion of the electronic signals with physical coupling (e.g.,“electrical communication” or “electrically coupled”) and/or withoutphysical coupling and via an electromagnetic field (e.g.. “inductivecommunication” or “inductively coupled” or “inductive coupling”). Asused herein, “transmit” may include sending at least a portion of theelectronic data from one system component to another (e.g., over anetwork connection). Additionally, as used herein, “data,”“information,” or the like may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

With reference to FIG. 1, a transaction authorization blockchain system100 is depicted according to various embodiments. System 100 may includevarious computing devices, software modules, networks, and datastructures in communication with one another. System 100 may alsocontemplate uses in association with web services, utility computing,pervasive, and individualized computing, security and identitysolutions, autonomic computing, cloud computing, commodity computing,mobility and wireless solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computingand/or mesh computing. System 100 based on a blockchain, as describedherein, may simplify and automate transaction authorizations and relatedprocesses by using the blockchain as a distributed and tamper-proof datastore. Transparency is very high for various embodiments using aconsortium or public blockchain since validation is performed, forexample, using data stored by a decentralized autonomous organization(DAO) instead of a specific financial institution.

System 100 may comprise a blockchain network 150 that operates on ablockchain, in accordance with various embodiments. Blockchain network150 may be a distributed database that maintains records in a readablemanner and that is resistant to tampering. The blockchain may comprise asystem of blocks containing data that are interconnected by reference tothe previous block. The blocks can hold file transfer data, smartcontract data, and/or other information as desired. Each block may linkto the previous block and may include a timestamp. When implemented insupport of system 100, the blockchain may serve as an immutable, log fortransactions and related contracts and processes. Blockchain network 150may be a peer-to-peer network that is private, consortium and/or publicin nature (e.g. Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.). Consortium and privatenetworks may offer improved control over the content of the blockchainand public networks may leverage the cumulative computing power of thenetwork to improve security. In that regard, blockchain network 150 maybe implemented using technologies such as, for example, Ethereum GETH,eth-lightwallet, or other suitable or future blockchain interfacetechnologies.

In various embodiments, blockchain network 150 may comprise variousblockchain nodes (e.g., consensus participants) configured to maintainthe blockchain. Each blockchain node may comprise a computing deviceconfigured to validate blocks of the blockchain. The computing devicesmay take the form of a computer or processor, or a set of computersand/or processors, although other types of computing units or systemsmay also be used. Exemplary computing devices include servers, pooledservers, laptops, notebooks, hand held computers, personal digitalassistants, cellular phones, smart phones (e.g., iPhone®, BlackBerry®,Android®, etc.) tablets, wearables (e.g., smart watches and smartglasses), Internet of things (IOT) devices or any other device capableof receiving data over network. Each computing device may runapplications to interact with blockchain network 150, communicate, withother devices, perform crypto operations, and otherwise operate withinsystem 100. Computing devices may run a client application that can be athin client (web) based, hybrid (i.e. web and native, such as iOS andAndroid), or native application to make API calls to interact with theblockchain.

In various embodiments, system 100 may use a Hierarchical Deterministic(HD) solution and may use BIP32, BIP39, and/or BIP44, for example, togenerate an HD tree of public addresses. System 100 may include variouscomputing devices configured to interact with blockchain network 150either via a blockchain client, such as GETH, or via API calls using ablockchain as a service provider, such as MICROSOFT AZURE® or BlockappsSTRATO, for example. The various computing devices of system 100 may beconfigured to store transaction data and execute smart contracts usingblockchain network 150 for data storage and/or validation. The smartcontracts may be completed by digital signature using asymmetric cryptooperations and a private key, for example, and as discussed furtherherein.

In various embodiments, system 100 may comprise a user device 110. Userdevice 110 may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/orsoftware and may be a computing device such as a server, laptop,notebook, hand held computer, personal digital assistant, cellularphone, smart phone (e.g., iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Android®, etc.) tablet,wearable (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses, smart rings, etc.),Internet of things (IoT) device, smart speaker, or any other similardevice. User device 110 may comprise software configured to aid userdevice 110 in interacting with components of system 100. For example,user device 110 may comprise a user blockchain wallet 115 and/or amerchant application 117.

User device 110 may be in electronic communication with blockchainnetwork 150 via user blockchain wallet 115. User blockchain wallet 115may comprise any suitable distributed-ledger based wallet that allowsfor the installation of smart contracts, such as, for example, EthereumGETH, eth-lightwallet, and/or any other suitable blockchain interfacetechnologies. User blockchain wallet 115 may serve as a blockchaininterface accessible by applications installed on user device 110. Forexample, user blockchain wallet 115 may be configured to register userdevice 110 with the blockchain, write data to the blockchain accordingto a smart contract, write transaction data to the blockchain, andrequest public key (e.g., blockchain address) and private key pairs fromblockchain network 150, as discussed further herein.

User device 110 may be in electronic communication with issuerauthorization system 140 via merchant application 117 and transactionnetwork 145. Merchant application may comprise software, a mobileapplication, a web interface, or the like accessible from user device110. Merchant application 117 may allow a user, via user device 110, tobrowse, interact with, and purchase physical goods, digital goods,services, or the like from a merchant. In that regard, merchantapplication 117 may be in electronic communication with merchant system120, and/or may be hosted on merchant system 120 and accessible via userdevice 110. Transaction network 145, which may be part of certaintransactions, represents existing proprietary networks that presentlyaccommodate transactions for credit cards, debit cards, and/or othertypes of transactional instruments. Transaction network may be a closednetwork that is secure from eavesdroppers. In various embodiments,transaction network 145 may comprise an exemplary transaction networksuch as American Express®, VisaNet®, Mastercard®, Discover®, Interac®,Cartes Bancaires, JCB®, private networks (e.g., department storenetworks), and/or any other payment network.

In various embodiments, issuer authorization system 140 may beconfigured as a central hub to access various systems, engines, andcomponents of a payment network, as discussed further herein. Issuerauthorization system 140 may comprise one or more of a server, computingdevice, data structure or the like, and may be in electronic and/oroperative communication with issuer portal 130, issuer repository 135,transaction network 145, and/or blockchain network 150. Issuerauthorization system 140 may be configured to authorize and settlepayment transactions; maintain transaction account member databases,accounts receivable databases, accounts payable databases, or the like;retrieve and invoke smart contracts from issuer repository 135; and/oradditional processing tasks as described further herein.

Issuer repository 135 may be in electronic communication with issuerauthorization system 140 and/or issuer portal 130, and may comprise anysuitable data structure. Issuer repository 135 may be configured tostore smart contracts, merchant-to-smart contract relationships, anduser-to-blockchain relationships. The smart contracts may be related tothe transaction process. For example, issuer repository 135 may storesmart contracts configured to control the end-to-end flow of returnpolicies, refund policies, partial payment workflows, full paymentworkflows, payment schedules, service deployment schedules, and/or thelike. Each smart contract may be an executable that writes data to theblockchain in a predetermined format based on predetermined functionparameters passed by an API call. The smart contracts may take as aninput the fields included for writing during the transactionauthorization process, such as, for example, a user ID, a merchant ID,transaction data (e.g., payment amount, etc.), public keys, or the like.Each smart contract may include a program written in a programminglanguage such as, for example, Solidity, or any other suitableprogramming language.

In various embodiments, system 100 may comprise an issuer portal 130configured as an interface for access to issuer authorization system 140and issuer repository 135. Issuer portal 130 may comprise any suitablecombination of software and/or hardware, such as a website orapplication installed on issuer authorization system 140 and/or merchantsystem 120. For example, issuer portal 130 may allow a merchant viamerchant system 120 to browse issuer repository 135 to select a smartcontract, as discussed further herein. Issuer portal 130 may also allowa merchant via merchant system 120 to register for system 100, such as,for example, by receiving a merchant public key (e.g., the blockchainaddress of merchant blockchain wallet 125), a merchant ID, and theselected smart contract.

In various embodiments, merchant system 120 may be configured to allow amerchant access to system 100. Merchant system 120 may comprise anysuitable combination of hardware and/or software, and may comprise oneor more of a server, computing device, data structure or the like.

Merchant system 120 may comprise software configured to aid merchantsystem 120 in interacting with components of system 100. For example,merchant system 120 may comprise a merchant blockchain wallet 125.Merchant blockchain wallet 125 may comprise any suitabledistributed-ledger based wallet that allows for the installation ofsmart contracts, such as, for example, Ethereum GETH, eth-lightwallet,and/or any other suitable blockchain interface technologies. Merchantblockchain wallet 125 may be configured as a blockchain interfaceaccessible by merchant system 120 to provide access to blockchainnetwork 150. For example, merchant blockchain wallet 125 may beconfigured to register merchant system 120 with the blockchain writedata to the blockchain according to a smart contract, write transactiondata to the blockchain, and request public key (e.g., blockchainaddress) and private key pairs from blockchain network 150, as discussedfurther herein.

The various electronic communications of system 100 including theregistration requests, transaction processes, writing to blockchainnetwork 150, and/or reading data from blockchain network 150 may beaccomplished using a network. As used herein, the term “network”includes any cloud, cloud computing system or electronic communicationssystem or method that incorporates hardware and/or software components.Communication among the parties may be accomplished through any suitablecommunication channels, such as, for example, a telephone network, anextranet, an intranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point ofsale device, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, tablet,etc.), online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or anysuitable communication or data input modality. Moreover, although thesystem is frequently described herein as being implemented with TCP/IPcommunications protocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX,AppleTalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g., IPsec, SSH,etc.), or any number of existing or future protocols. If the network isin the nature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may beadvantageous to presume the network to be insecure and open toeavesdroppers. Specific information related to the protocols, standards,and application software utilized in connection with the Internet isgenerally known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not bedetailed herein. See, for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS ANDPROTOCOLS (1998), JAVA 2 COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999);DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY, MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IPCLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997) and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THEDEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002), the contents of which are hereby incorporatedby reference.

A network may be unsecure. Thus, communication over the network mayutilize data encryption. Encryption may be performed by way of any ofthe techniques now available in the art or which may becomeavailable—e.g., Twofish, RSA, El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI,GPG (GnuPG), and symmetric and asymmetric cryptosystems. Asymmetricencryption in particular may be of use in signing and verifyingsignatures for blockchain crypto operations.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A-4B, the process flows depicted are merelyembodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.For example, the steps recited in any of the method or processdescriptions may be executed in any order and are not limited to theorder presented. It will be appreciated that the following descriptionmakes appropriate references not only to the steps depicted in FIGS.2-4B, but also to the various system components as described above withreference to FIG. 1.

With specific reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, and continued reference toFIG. 1, a process 201 for merchant registration in a transactionauthorization blockchain system is shown according to variousembodiments. Merchant system 120 requests a public key and private keypair (step 203). Merchant system 120 may request the asymmetric key pairfrom merchant blockchain wallet 125 to begin the merchant registrationprocess. Merchant blockchain wallet 125 may generate and/or receive theasymmetric key pair, including the private key (e.g., merchant privatekey) paired with the public key (e.g., merchant public key). The publickey and the private key may be generated using any suitable technique,such as BIP32, BIP39, BIP44 or the like. The public key may comprise ablockchain address. Merchant blockchain wallet 125 may encrypt and storethe private key. Merchant blockchain wallet 125 transmits the public keyto merchant system 120 (step 205). Merchant system 120 may encrypt andstore locally the public key.

Merchant system 120 browses issuer portal 130 for a smart contract (step207). Issuer portal 130 may display, via merchant system 120, one ormore smart contracts for the merchant to select. In response to locatinga desired or suitable smart contract, the merchant via merchant system120 may select the smart contract. In response to the merchant beingunable to locate a desirable smart contract to select, merchant system120 may interact with issuer portal 130 to generate a merchant smartcontract (step 209). For example, in response to being unable to locatea useful or desirable smart contract, the merchant may desire togenerate a merchant smart contract to meet its needs (e.g., to generatea new smart contract based on a proposed good or service to be sold).Issuer portal 130, via merchant system 120, may display an interface tothe merchant with available selections to generate the merchant smartcontract. For example, issuer portal 130 may display various smartcontract templates (e.g., warranty, payment schedule, merchantrating/reputation, etc.) and the merchant may selected desired optionsfor each template. In various embodiments, issuer portal 130 may alsoallow a merchant to upload a created smart contract that was programmedusing any suitable blockchain programming language, such as, forexample, Solidity. Issuer portal 130 may generate the merchant smartcontract based on the merchant's selection, and transmit the merchantsmart contract to merchant system 120. Merchant system 120 transmits themerchant smart contract to merchant blockchain wallet 125 (step 211).The merchant smart contract is deployed to blockchain network 150 (step213). Merchant blockchain wallet 125 may deploy/write the merchant smartcontract (or invoke an API to perform the write), to blockchain network150.

Merchant system 120 registers with issuer portal 130 (step 215).Merchant system 120 may transmit a merchant registration request toissuer portal 130. The merchant registration request may comprise amerchant ID, the public key received in step 205, and the selected smartcontract from step 207. In various embodiments, each merchant maycomprise a plurality of merchant IDs. In that regard, merchant system120 may register multiple merchant ID's, with each merchant ID beinglinked to a different selected smart contract. For example, a merchantselling both digital products and physical products may assign differentmerchant ID's to the digital products and physical products to allowdifferent smart contracts to be employed. In response to merchant system120 optionally generating the merchant smart contract (e.g., during step209 through step 213), the merchant registration request may comprisethe merchant smart contract and/or the blockchain address of thedeployed merchant smart contract to the blockchain. Issuer portal 130registers a merchant-to-smart contract relationship in issuer repository135 (step 217). Issuer portal 130 may transmit the merchant registrationrequest to issuer repository 135. Issuer repository 135 may store thedata using any suitable technique. Issuer portal 130 confirmsregistration to merchant system 120 (step 219). Issuer portal 130 maytransmit a merchant registration confirmation to merchant system 120 toconfirm that registration was successful. In response to an erroroccurring during registration (such as in response to determining apreexisting registration for the same merchant ID). Issuer portal 130may transmit a merchant registration failure confirmation to merchantsystem 120 containing data indicating the error that occurred duringregistration.

With specific reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, and continued reference toFIG. 1, a process 301 for user registration in a transactionauthorization blockchain system is shown according to variousembodiments. User device 110 requests a public key and private key pair(step 303). User device 110 may request the asymmetric key pair fromuser blockchain wallet 115 to begin the user registration process. Userblockchain wallet 115 may generate and/or receive the asymmetric keypair, including the private key (e.g., user private key) paired with thepublic key (e.g., user public key). The public key and the private keymay be generated using any suitable technique, such as BIP32, BIP39,BIP44 or the like. The public key may comprise a blockchain address.User blockchain wallet 115 may encrypt and store the private key. Userblockchain wallet 115 transmits the public key to user device 110 (step305). User device 110 may encrypt and store locally the public key.

User device 110 registers with issuer portal 130 (step 307). User device110 may transmit a user registration request to issuer portal 130. Invarious embodiments, issuer portal 130 may prompt user device 110 toenter login credentials (e.g., a username and password, biometric input,etc.) prior to allowing user device 110 to transmit the userregistration request to issuer portal 130. The user registration requestmay comprise a transaction account number and/or the public key receivedin step 305. In various embodiments wherein the user enters logincredentials to issuer portal 130 during the registration process, issuerportal 130 may also be configured to retrieve transaction accountinformation linked to the login credentials. Issuer portal 130 registersthe user-to-blockchain relationship in issuer repository 135 (step 309).Issuer portal 130 may transmit the user registration request to issuerrepository 135. Issuer repository 135 may store the data using anysuitable technique. Issuer portal 130 confirms registration to userdevice, 110 (step 311). Issuer portal 130 may transmit a userregistration confirmation to user device 110 to confirm thatregistration was successful. In response to an error occurring duringregistration (such as in response to determining a preexistingregistration for the same user), issuer portal 130 may transmit a userregistration failure confirmation to user device 110 containing dataindicating the error that occurred during registration.

With specific reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, and continued reference toFIG. 1, a transaction authorization process 401 is shown according tovarious embodiments. User device 110 browses merchant application 117(step 403). For example, user device 110 may browse merchant application117 to purchase a good or service, Merchant application 117 may alsodisplay and/or describe associated contracts with each good or service(e.g., return/refund policy, payment installment plan, etc.). Userdevice 110 initiates a transaction via merchant application 117 (step405). For example, the user may purchase a good or service and select orenter a transaction account number to initiate the transaction. Invarious embodiments, the transaction may be initiated based on the smartcontract selected by the merchant during the merchant registrationprocess 201, with brief reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

Merchant application 117 transmits an authorization request (step 407).Merchant application 117 may transmit the authorization request toissuer authorization system 140, via transaction network 145. Theauthorization request may comprise data regarding the transaction, suchas, for example, the merchant ID, the transaction account number, atransaction amount, a transaction ID, or the like. Issuer authorizationsystem 140 processes the authorization request (step 409). Issuerauthorization system 140 may process the authorization request using anysuitable technique known in the art. For example, issuer authorizationsystem 140 may be configured to validate the authorization request bycomparing data from the authorization request to stored transactionaccount data in an account member database. For example, issuerauthorization system 140 may query the account member database and maycompare the transaction account numbers, account holder identifyinginformation, etc. Issuer authorization system 140 may also assess therisk of the transaction. Issuer authorization system 140 may transferfunds or the like to otherwise complete the transaction.

Issuer authorization system 140 queries issuer repository 135 (step411). Issuer authorization system 140 may query issuer repository todetermine the merchant public key and smart contract based on themerchant ID, and/or the user public key based on the transaction accountnumber identified during the purchase transaction. Issuer repository 135returns data to issuer authorization system 140 based on the query (step413). For example, issuer repository 135 may return the merchant publickey, the smart contract, and the user public key back to issuerauthorization system 140. issuer authorization system 140 invokes thesmart contract (step 415). Issuer authorization system 140 may invokethe smart contract returned in step 413 and may pass parameters relatingto the transaction, including the user public key, the transaction ID,or the like. The call to the smart contract may be secured using theprivate key from merchant system 120. The user public key included inthe call may be digitally signed using a trusted certificate authority(e.g., VeriSign®, DigiCert®, etc.).

Issuer authorization system 140 notifies merchant application 117 ofreceipt of the payment (step 417). For example, the smart contract maytransmit via issuer authorization system 140 and transaction network 145to merchant application 117 a payment receipt comprising data indicatinga successfully authorized transaction. Merchant application 117 confirmstransaction data with user device 110 (step 419). For example, inresponse to the transaction comprising a physical or digital good,merchant application 117 may begin the process of delivering thephysical or digital good to the user. In response to the transactioncomprising a service, merchant application 117 may notify the merchantor third party that the transaction was successful. In response to thetransaction including a warranty plan, payment installation plan, or thelike, merchant application 117 may confirm the plan with user device110.

User device 110 confirms transaction data with user blockchain wallet115 (step 421). For example, in response to the transaction involving aphysical or digital good, user device 110 may confirm receipt of thephysical or digital good with user blockchain wallet 115. In response tothe transaction involving a service, user device 110 may confirm withuser blockchain wallet 115 that the service was started, completed, etc.In response to the transaction including a warranty plan, paymentinstallation plan, or the like, user device 110 may confirm the planwith blockchain wallet 115. In various embodiments, user blockchainwallet 115 may invoke the smart contract (e.g., the smart contractretrieved in steps 411 and 413). For example, user blockchain wallet 115may provide a link to the smart contract blockchain address allowing theuser to access the smart contract. In various embodiments, a customermay also interface with user blockchain wallet 115 (e.g., via pasting orinputting the smart contract blockchain address) to access the smartcontract.

User blockchain wallet 115 propagates transaction data to blockchainnetwork 150 (step 423). For example, user blockchain wallet 115 maypropagate transaction data including the merchant ID, the transactionaccount number, the payment amount, transaction status (e.g., completed,pending, etc.), and/or the like; data regarding a contractual agreementsuch as a warranty place, return policy, payment installation policy, orthe like; and/or any other data relating to the transaction. Userblockchain wallet 115 may propagate the transaction data by writing itto the blockchain or by otherwise transmitting the proposal to otherconsensus participants in blockchain network 150. The consensusparticipants may achieve consensus and add a new ledger for thetransaction data to the blockchain. The consensus participants mayvalidate the transaction data, and any other activity on the blockchainby establishing consensus between the participants based on proof ofwork, proof of stake, practical byzantine fault tolerance, delegatedproof of stake, or other suitable consensus algorithms. The consensusparticipants may notify user blockchain wallet 115 of a successful writeto the blockchain by transmitting a confirmation, or by user blockchainwallet 115 locating the transaction data written on blockchain. Invarious embodiments, in response to the smart contract and/ortransaction stipulating that the transaction involves multiple payments(e.g., a payment schedule) and/or multiple steps, transactionauthorization process 401 may repeat step 405 through step 423.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude, the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

As used herein, “satisfy”, “meet”, “match” “associated with” or similarphrases may include an identical match, a partial match, meeting certaincriteria, matching a subset of data, a correlation, satisfying certaincriteria, a correspondence, an association, an algorithmic relationshipand/or the like. Similarly, as used herein, “authenticate” or similarterms may include an exact authentication, a partial authentication,authenticating a subset of data, a correspondence, satisfying certaincriteria, an association, an algorithmic relationship and/or the like.

Terms and phrases similar to “associate” and/or “associating” mayinclude tagging, flagging, correlating, using a look-up table or anyother method or system for indicating or creating a relationship betweenelements, such as, for example, (i) a transaction account and (ii) anitem (e.g., offer, reward, discount) and/or digital channel. Moreover,the associating may occur at any point, in response to any suitableaction, event, or period of time. The associating may occur atpre-determined intervals, periodic, randomly, once, more than once, orin response to a suitable request or action. Any of the information maybe distributed and/or accessed via a software enabled link, wherein thelink may be sent via an email, text, post, social network input and/orany other method known in the art.

As used herein, big data may refer to partially or fully structured,semi-structured, or unstructured data sets including millions of rowsand hundreds of thousands of columns. A big data set may be compiled,for example, from a history of purchase transactions over time, from webregistrations, from social media, from records of charge (ROC), fromsummaries of charges (SOC), from internal data, or from other suitablesources. Big data sets may be compiled without descriptive metadata suchas column types, counts, percentiles, or other interpretive-aid datapoints.

A distributed computing duster and/or big data management system may be,for example, a Hadoop® duster configured to process and store big datasets with some of nodes comprising a distributed storage system and someof nodes comprising a distributed processing system. In that regard,distributed computing duster may be configured to support a Hadoop®distributed file system (HDFS) as specified by the Apache SoftwareFoundation at http://hadoop.apache.org/docs/. For more information onbig data management systems, see U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,902 titledINTEGRATED BIG DATA INTERFACE FOR MULTIPLE STORAGE TYPES and filed onNov. 18, 2015; U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,979 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FORREADING AND WRITING TO BIG DATA STORAGE FORMATS and filed on Nov. 18,2015; U.S. Ser. No. 14/945,032 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING,TRACKING AND MAINTAINING BIG DATA USE CASES and filed on Nov. 18, 2015;U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,849 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLYCAPTURING AND RECORDING LINEAGE DATA FOR BIG DATA RECORDS and filed onNov. 18, 2015; U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,898 titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORTRACKING SENSITIVE DATA IN A BIG DATA ENVIRONMENT and filed on Nov. 18,2015; and U.S. Ser. No. 14/944,961 titled SYSTEM AND METHOD TRANSFORMINGSOURCE DATA INTO OUTPUT DATA IN BIG DATA ENVIRONMENTS and filed on Nov.18, 2015, the contents of each of which are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety.

Any communication, transmission and/or channel discussed herein mayinclude any system or method for delivering content (e.g. data,messages, information metadata, etc.), and/or the content itself. Thecontent may be presented in any form or medium, and in variousembodiments, the content may be delivered electronically and/or capableof being presented electronically. For example, a channel may comprise awebsite or device (e.g., FACEBOOK®, YOUTUBE®, APPLE® TV®, PANDORA®,XBOX®, SONY® PLAYSTATION®), a uniform resource locator (“URL”), adocument (e.g., a MICROSOFT® Word® document, a MICROSOFT® Excel®document, an ADOBE® .pdf document, etc.), an “ebook,” an “emagazine,” anapplication or microapplication (as described herein), an SMS or othertype of text message, an email, FACEBOOK® message, TWITTER® tweet and/ormessage, MMS, and/or other type of communication technology. In variousembodiments, a channel may be hosted or provided by a data partner. Invarious embodiments, the distribution channel may comprise at least oneof a merchant website, a social media website, affiliate or partnerwebsites, an external vendor, a mobile device communication, socialmedia network and/or location based service. Distribution channels mayinclude at least one of a merchant website, a social media site,affiliate, or partner websites, an external vendor, and a mobile devicecommunication. Examples of social media sites include FACEBOOK®,FOURSQUARE®, TWITTER®, MYSPACE®, LINKEDIN®, and the like. Examples ofaffiliate or partner websites include AMERICAN EXPRESS®, GROUPON®,LIVINGSOCIAL®, and the like. Moreover, examples of mobile devicecommunications include texting, email, and mobile applications forsmartphones.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult In various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., WINDOWS®, OS2, UNIX® LINUX®, SOLARIS®, MacOS, etc.) aswell as various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may beimplemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.However, the manipulations performed by embodiments were often referredto in terms, such as matching or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases,in any of the operations described herein. Rather, the operations may bemachine operations or any of the operations may be conducted or enhancedby Artificial Intelligence (A) or Machine Learning. Useful machines forperforming the various embodiments include, general purpose digitalcomputers or similar devices.

In fact, in various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward oneor more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionalitydescribed herein. The computer system includes one or more processors,such as processor. The processor is connected to a communicationinfrastructure (e.g., a communications bus, cross over bar, or network).Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplarycomputer system. After reading this description, it will become apparentto a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement variousembodiments using other computer systems and/or architectures. Computersystem can include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, andother data from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffernot shown) for display on a display unit.

Computer system also includes a main memory, such as for example randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. Thesecondary memory may include, for example, a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a magnetic tape drive, an opticaldisk drive, etc. The removable storage drive reads from and/or writes toa removable storage unit in a well-known manner. Removable storage unitrepresents a magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by andwritten to by removable storage drive. As will be appreciated, theremovable storage unit includes a computer usable storage medium havingstored therein computer software and/or data.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, and other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to computer system.

Computer system may also include a communications interface.Communications interface allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system and external devices. Examples of communicationsinterface may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernetcard), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and datafiles transferred via communications interface are in the form ofsignals which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or othersignals capable of being received by communications interface. Thesesignals are provided to communications interface via a communicationspath (e.g., channel). This channel carries signals and may beimplemented using wire, cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, acellular link, a radio frequency (RF) link, wireless and othercommunications channels.

The computer system or any components may integrate with systemintegration technology such as, for example, the ALEXA system developedby AMAZON®. ALEXA is a cloud-based voice service that can help you withtasks, entertainment, general information and more. All AMAZON® ALEXAdevices, such as the AMAZON ECHO®, AMAZON ECHO DOT®, AMAZON TAP®, andAMAZON FIRE® TV, have access to the ALEXA system. The ALEXA system mayreceive voice commands via its voice activation technology, and activateother functions, control smart devices and/or gather information. Forexample, music, emails, texts, calling, questions answered, homeimprovement information, smart home communication/activation, games,shopping, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts,playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, and other real timeinformation, such as news. The ALEXA system may allow the user to accessinformation about eligible accounts linked to an online account acrossall ALEXA-enabled devices.

The terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” and“computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such asremovable storage drive and a hard disk installed in hard disk drive.These computer program products provide software to computer system.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory and/or secondary memory. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features asdiscussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed,enable the processor to perform the features of various embodiments.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of thecomputer system.

In various embodiments, software may be stored in a computer programproduct and loaded into computer system using removable storage drive,hard disk drive or communications interface. The control logic(software), when executed by the processor, causes the processor toperform the functions of various embodiments as described herein. Invarious embodiments, hardware components such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware statemachine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

In various embodiments, the server may include application servers (e.g.WEBSPHERE®, WEBLOGIC®, JBOSS®, EDB® Postgres Plus Advanced Server®(PPAS), etc.). In various embodiments, the server may include webservers (e.g. APACHE®, IIS, GWS, SUN JAVA® SYSTEM WEB SERVER, JAVA®Virtual Machine running on LINUX® or WINDOWS®).

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications comprise Internet browsing softwareinstalled within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,tablets, hand held computers, personal digital assistants, set-topboxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, personal computers, such as IPADS®, IMACS®, and MACBOOKS®,kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS) devices and/or terminals,televisions, or any other device capable of receiving data over anetwork. A web-client may run MICROSOFT® INTERNET EXPLORER®, MOZILLA®FIREFOX®, GOOGLE® CHROME®, APPLE® Safari, or any other of the myriadsoftware packages available for browsing the Internet.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate that a web client may or maynot be in direct contact with an application server. For example, a webclient may access the services of an application server through anotherserver and/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In variousembodiments, access is through a network or the Internet through acommercially-available web-browser software package.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web client includes anoperating system (e.g.. WINDOWS® OS, OS2, UNIX® OS, LINUX® OS, SOLARIS®,MacOS, and/or the like) as well as various conventional support softwareand drivers typically associated with computers. A web client mayinclude any suitable personal computer, network computer, workstation,personal digital assistant, cellular phone, smart phone, minicomputer,mainframe or the like. A web client can be in a home or businessenvironment with access to a network. In various embodiments, access isthrough a network or the Internet through a commercially availableweb-browser software package. A web client may implement securityprotocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport LayerSecurity (TLS). A web client may implement several application layerprotocols including http, https, ftp, and sftp.

In various embodiments, components, modules, and/or engines of system100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-appsare typically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a WINDOWS® mobile operating system, an ANDROID®Operating System, APPLE® IOS®, a BLACKBERRY® operating system, and thelike. The micro-app may be configured to leverage the resources of thelarger operating system and associated hardware via a set ofpredetermined rules which govern the operations of various operatingsystems and hardware resources. For example, where a micro app desiresto communicate with a device or network other than the mobile device ormobile operating system, the micro-app may leverage, the communicationprotocol of the operating system and associated device hardware underthe predetermined rules of the mobile operating system. Moreover, wherethe micro-app desires an input from a user, the micro-app may beconfigured to request a response from the operating system whichmonitors various hardware components and communicates a detected inputfrom the hardware to the micro-app.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, blockchain, or object-oriented structure and/or any otherdatabase configurations. The databases may also include a flat filestructure wherein data may be stored in a single file in the form ofrows and columns, with no structure for indexing and no structuralrelationships between records. For example, a flat file structure mayinclude a delimited text file, a CSV (comma-separated values) file,and/or any other suitable flat file structure. Common database productsthat may be used to implement the databases include DB2 by IBM® (Armonk,N.Y.), various database products available from ORACLE® Corporation(Redwood Shores, Calif.), MICROSOFT® ACCESS® or MICROSOFT® SQL Server®by MICROSOFT® Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), MYSQL® by MySQL AB (Uppsala,Sweden), HBase™ by APACHE®, MapR-DB, or any other suitable databaseproduct. Moreover, the databases may be organized in any suitablemanner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Each record may bea single file, a series of files, a linked series of data fields. or anyother data structure.

The blockchain structure may include a distributed database thatmaintains a growing list of data records. The blockchain may provideenhanced security because each block may hold individual transactionsand the results of any blockchain executables. Each block may contain atimestamp and a link to a previous block. Blocks may be linked becauseeach block may include the hash of the prior block in the blockchain.The linked blocks form a chain, with only one successor block allowed tolink to one other predecessor block for a single chain. Forks may bepossible where divergent chains are established from a previouslyuniform blockchain, though typically only one of the divergent chainswill be maintained as the consensus chain. For more information onblockchain-based payment networks, see U.S. application Ser. No.15/266,350 titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR BLOCKCHAIN BASED PAYMENTNETWORKS and filed on Sep. 15, 2016, U.S. application Ser. No.15/682,180 titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DATA FILE TRANSFER BALANCINGAND CONTROL ON BLOCKCHAIN and filed Aug. 21, 2017, and U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/728,086 titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOYALTY POINTDISTRIBUTION and filed Oct. 9, 2017, the contents of which are eachincorporated by reference in their entirety.

Association of certain data may be accomplished through any desired dataassociation technique such as those known or practiced in the art. Forexample, the association may be accomplished either manually orautomatically. Automatic association techniques may include, forexample, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP SQL, using akey field in the tables to speed searches, sequential searches throughall the tables and files, sorting records in the file according to aknown order to simplify lookup, and/or the like. The association stepmay be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a“key field” in pre-selected databases or data sectors. Various databasetuning steps are contemplated to optimize database performance. Forexample, frequently used files such as indexes may be placed on separatefile systems to reduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage techniquemay be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets maybe stored using any suitable technique, including, for example, storingindividual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing adomain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposes one or moreelementary files containing one or more data sets; using data setsstored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system; data setsstored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary Information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored in association with the system or external tobut affiliated with system. The BLOB method may store data sets asungrouped data elements formatted as a block of binary via a fixedmemory offset using either fixed storage allocation, circular queuetechniques, or best practices with respect to memory management (e.g.,paged memory, least recently used, etc.). By using BLOB methods, theability to store various data sets that have different formatsfacilitates the storage of data, in the database or associated with thesystem, by multiple and unrelated owners of the data sets. For example,a first data set which may be stored may be provided by a first party, asecond data set which may be stored may be provided by an unrelatedsecond party, and yet a third data set which may be stored, may beprovided by an third party unrelated to the first and second party. Eachof these three exemplary data sets may contain different informationthat is stored using different data storage formats and/or techniques.Further, each data set may contain subsets of data that also may bedistinct from other subsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, the data set (e.g., BLOB) may beannotated in a standard manner when provided for manipulating the datain the database or system. The annotation may comprise a short header,trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to each data set that isconfigured to convey information useful in managing the various datasets. For example, the annotation may be called a “condition header”,“header”, “trailer”, or “status”, herein, and may comprise an indicationof the status of the data set or may include an identifier correlated toa specific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set: e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trader may be received by a standaloneinteraction device configured to add, delete, modify, or augment thedata in accordance with the header or trader. As such, in oneembodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the user at thestandalone device, the appropriate option for the action to be taken.The system may contemplate a data storage arrangement wherein the headeror trailer, or header or trader history, of the data is stored on thesystem, device or transaction instrument in relation to the appropriatedata.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, GPG (GnuPG), HPEFormat-Preserving Encryption (FPE), Voltage, and symmetric andasymmetric cryptosystems. The systems and methods may also incorporateSHA series cryptographic methods as well as ECC (Elliptic CurveCryptography) and other Quantum Readable Cryptography Algorithms underdevelopment.

The computing unit of the web client may be further equipped with anInternet browser connected to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions originating at a web client may pass through a firewall inorder to prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.Further, additional firewalls may be deployed between the varyingcomponents of CMS to further enhance security.

Firewall may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured toprotect CMS components and/or enterprise computing resources from usersof other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured to limit orrestrict access to various systems and components behind the firewallfor web clients connecting through a web server. Firewall may reside invarying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based,access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Firewall may beintegrated within a web server or any other CMS components or mayfurther reside as a separate entity. A firewall may implement networkaddress translation (“NAT”) and/or network address port translation(“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunneling protocols tofacilitate secure communications, such as those used in virtual privatenetworking. A firewall may implement a demilitarized zone (“DMZ”) tofacilitate communications with a public network such as the Internet. Afirewall may be integrated as software within an Internet server, anyother application server components or may reside within anothercomputing device or may take the form of a standalone hardwarecomponent.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the MICROSOFT® INTERNET INFORMATION SERVICES® (IIS),MICROSOFT® Transaction Server (MTS), and MICROSOFT® SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the MICROSOFT® operating system, MICROSOFT® webserver software, a MICROSOFT® SQL Server database system, and aMICROSOFT® Commerce Server. Additionally, components such as MICROSOFT®ACCESS® or MICROSOFT® SQL Server ORACLE®, SYBASE®, INFORMIX® MySQL,INTERBASE etc., may be used to provide an Active Data Object (ADO)compliant database management system. In one embodiment, the Apache webserver is used in conjunction with a Linux operating system, a MYSQL®database, and the Perl, PHP, and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, JAVA® applets, JAVASCRIPT®,active server pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI),extensible markup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets(CSS), AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT® And XML), helper applications,plug-ins, and the like. A server may include a web service that receivesa request from a web server, the request including a URL and an IPaddress (e.g., 10.0.0.2). The web server retrieves the appropriate webpages and sends the data or applications for the web pages to the IPaddress. Web services are applications that are capable of interactingwith other applications over a communications means, such as theInternet. Web services are typically based on standards or protocolssuch as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDL and UDDI. Web services methods are wellknown in the art, and are covered in many standard texts. For example,representational state transfer (REST), or RESTful, web services mayprovide one way of enabling interoperability between applications.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WEBSPHERE®MQ™ (formerly MQSeries) by IBM®, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, pop-up window,and the like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, APACHE® Hive, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT®,VB Script, Macromedia Cold Fusion COBOL, MICROSOFT® Active Server Pages,assembly, PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures,Spark, Scala, PL/SQL, any UNIX shell script, and extensible markuplanguage (XML) with the various algorithms being implemented with anycombination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or otherprogramming elements. Further, it should be noted that the system mayemploy any number of conventional techniques for data transmission,signaling, data processing, network control, and the like. Stillfurther, the system could be used to detect or prevent security issueswith a client-side scripting language, such as JAVASCRIPT®, VBScript orthe like. Cryptography and network security methods are well known inthe art, and are covered in many standard texts.

In various embodiments, the software elements of the system may also beimplemented using Node.js®. Node.js® may implement several modules tohandle various core functionalities. For example, a package managementmodule, such as Npm®, may be implemented as an open source library toaid in organizing the installation and management of third-partyNode.js® programs. Node.js® may also implement a process manager, suchas, for example, Parallel Multithreaded Machine (“PM2”); a resource andperformance monitoring tool, such as, for example, Node ApplicationMetrics (“appmetrics”); a library module for building user interfaces,such as for example ReachJS®; and/or any other suitable and/or desiredmodule.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, a processing apparatus executing upgraded software, astandalone system, a distributed system, a method, a data processingsystem, a device for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, any portion of the system or a module may take the form ofa processing apparatus executing code, an Internet based embodiment, anentirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining aspects of theInternet, software and hardware. Furthermore, the system may take theform of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-readable program code means embodied in the storagemedium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized,including hard disks, CD-ROM, BLU-RAY, optical storage devices, magneticstorage devices, and/or the like.

The system and method is described herein with reference to screenshots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus(e.g., systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

Referring now to FIGS. 3A-4B, the process flows and screenshots depictedare merely embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure. For example, the steps recited in any of the method orprocess descriptions may be executed in any order and are not limited tothe order presented.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser WINDOWS®, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc.Practitioners will appreciate that the illustrated steps describedherein may comprise in any number of configurations including the use ofWINDOWS®, webpages, web forms, popup WINDOWS®, prompts and the like. Itshould be further appreciated that the multiple, steps as illustratedand described may be combined into single webpages and/or WINDOWS® buthave been expanded for the sake of simplicity. In other cases, stepsIllustrated and described as single process steps may be separated intomultiple webpages and/or WINDOWS® but have been combined for simplicity.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” should be construed toexclude only those types of transitory computer-readable media whichwere found in In re Nuijten to fall outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

The disclosure and claims do not describe only a particular outcome ofprocessing transaction authorizations, payments, and related processesusing a distributed database, but the disclosure and claims includespecific rues for implementing the outcome of processing transactionauthorizations, payments, and related processes using a distributeddatabase, and that render information into a specific format that isthen used and applied to create the desired results processingtransaction authorizations, payments, and related processes using adistributed database, as set forth in McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namca GamesAmerica Inc. (Fed. Cir. case number 15-1080, Sep. 13, 2016). In otherwords, the outcome of processing transaction authorizations, payments,and related processes using a distributed database can be performed bymany different types of rules and combinations of rules, and thisdisclosure includes various embodiments with specific rules. While theabsence of complete preemption may not guarantee that a claim iseligible, the disclosure does not sufficiently preempt the field ofprocessing transaction authorizations, payments, and related processesusing a distributed database at all. The disclosure acts to narrow,confine, and otherwise tie down the disclosure so as not to cover thegeneral abstract idea of just processing transaction authorizations,payments, and related processes using a distributed database.Significantly, other systems and methods exist for validating andlogging API transactions, so a would be inappropriate to assert that theclaimed invention preempts the field or monopolizes the basic tools ofprocessing transaction authorizations, payments, and related processesusing a distributed database. In other words, the disclosure will notprevent others from processing transaction authorizations, payments, andrelated processes using a distributed database, because other systemsare already performing the functionality in different ways than theclaimed invention. Moreover, the claimed invention includes an inventiveconcept that may be found in the non-conventional and non-genericarrangement of known, conventional pieces, in conformance with Bascom V.AT&T Mobility, 2015-1763 (Fed. Cir. 2016). The disclosure and claims goway beyond any conventionality of any one of the systems in that theinteraction and synergy of the systems leads to additional functionalitythat is not provided by any one of the systems operating independently.The disclosure and claims may also include the interaction betweenmultiple different systems, so the disclosure cannot be considered animplementation of a generic computer, or just “apply it” to an abstractprocess. The disclosure and claims may also be directed to improvementsto software with a specific implementation of a solution to a problem inthe software arts.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include alerting asubscriber when their computer is offline. The system may includegenerating customized information and alerting a remote subscriber thatthe information can be accessed from their computer. The alerts aregenerated by filtering received information, building information alertsand formatting the alerts into data blocks based upon subscriberpreference information. The data blocks are transmitted to thesubscriber's wireless device which, when connected to the computer,causes the computer to auto-launch an application to display theinformation alert and provide access to more detailed information aboutthe information alert. More particularly, the method may compriseproviding a viewer application to a subscriber for installation on theremote subscriber computer; receiving information at a transmissionserver sent from a data source over the Internet, the transmissionserver comprising a microprocessor and a memory that stores the remotesubscriber's preferences for information format, destination address,specified information, and transmission schedule, wherein themicroprocessor filters the received information by comparing thereceived information to the specified information, generates aninformation alert from the filtered information that contains a name, aprice, and a universal resource locator (URL), which specifies thelocation of the data source; formats the information alert into datablocks according to said information format; and transmits the formattedinformation alert over a wireless communication channel to a wirelessdevice, associated with a subscriber based upon the destination addressand transmission schedule, wherein the alert activates the applicationto cause the information alert to display on the remote subscribercomputer and to enable connection via the URL to the data source overthe Internet when the wireless device is locally connected to the remotesubscriber computer and the remote subscriber computer comes online.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include a graphicaluser interface for dynamically relocating/resealing obscured textualinformation of an underlying window to become automatically viewable tothe user. By permitting textual information to be dynamically relocatedbased on an overlap condition, the computer's ability to displayinformation is improved. More particularly, the method for dynamicallyrelocating textual information within an underlying window displayed ina graphical user interface may comprise displaying a first windowcontaining textual information in a first format within a graphical userinterface on a computer screen; displaying a second window within thegraphical user interface; constantly monitoring the boundaries of thefirst window and the second window to detect an overlap condition wherethe second window overlaps the first window such that the textualinformation in the first window is obscured from a user's view;determining the textual information would not be completely viewable ifrelocated to an unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating afirst measure of the area of the first window and a second measure ofthe area of the unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating ascaling factor which is proportional to the difference between the firstmeasure and the second measure; scaling the textual information basedupon the scaling factor; automatically relocating the scaled textualinformation, by a processor, to the unobscured portion of the firstwindow in a second format during an overlap condition so that the entirescaled textual information is viewable on the computer screen by theuser; and automatically returning the relocated scaled textualinformation, by the processor, to the first format within the firstwindow when the overlap condition no longer exists.

In various embodiments, the system may also include isolating andremoving malicious code from electronic messages (e.g., email) toprevent a computer from being compromised, for example by being infectedwith a computer virus. The system may scan electronic communications formalicious computer code and dean the electronic communication before itmay initiate malicious acts. The system operates by physically isolatinga received electronic communication in a “quarantine” sector of thecomputer memory. A quarantine sector is a memory sector created by thecomputer's operating system such that files stored in that sector arenot permitted to act on files outside that sector. When a communicationcontaining malicious code is stored in the quarantine sector, the datacontained within the communication is compared to maliciouscode-indicative patterns stored within a signature database. Thepresence of a particular malicious code-indicative pattern indicates thenature of the malicious code. The signature database further includescode markers that represent the beginning and end points of themalicious code. The malicious code is then extracted from maliciouscode-containing communication. An extraction routine is run by a fileparsing component of the processing unit. The file parsing routineperforms the following operations: scan the communication for theidentified beginning malicious code marker; flag each scanned bytebetween the beginning marker and the successive end malicious codemarker; continue scanning until no further beginning malicious codemarker is found; and create a new data file, by sequentially copying allnon-flagged data bytes into the new file, which forms a sanitizedcommunication file. The new, sanitized communication is transferred to anon-quarantine sector of the computer memory. Subsequently, all data onthe quarantine sector is erased. More particularly, the system includesa method for protecting a computer from an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code by receiving an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code in a computer with a memory having a bootsector, a quarantine sector and a non-quarantine sector; storing thecommunication in the quarantine sector of the memory of the computer,wherein the quarantine sector is isolated from the boot and thenon-quarantine sector in the computer memory, where code in thequarantine sector is prevented from performing write actions on othermemory sectors; extracting, via file parsing, the malicious code fromthe electronic communication to create a sanitized electroniccommunication, wherein the extracting comprises scanning thecommunication for an identified beginning malicious code marker,flagging each scanned byte between the beginning marker and a successiveend malicious code marker, continuing scanning until no furtherbeginning malicious code marker is found, and creating a new data fileby sequentially copying all non-flagged data bytes into a new the thatforms a sanitized communication file; transferring the sanitizedelectronic communication to the non-quarantine sector of the memory; anddeleting all data remaining in the quarantine sector.

In various embodiments, the system may also address the problem ofretaining control over customers during affiliate purchase transactions,using a system for co-marketing the look and fear of the host web pagewith the product-related content information of the advertisingmerchant's web page. The system can be operated by a third-partyoutsource provider, who acts as a broker between multiple hosts andmerchants. Prior to implementation, a host places links to a merchant'swebpage on the host's web page. The links are associated withproduct-related content on the merchant's web page. Additionally, theoutsource provider system stores the “look and feel” Information fromeach host's web pages in a computer data store, which is coupled to acomputer server. The “look and feel” information includes visuallyperceptible elements such as logos, colors, page layout, navigationsystem, frames, mouse-over effects or other elements that are consistentthrough some or all of each host's respective web pages. A customer whoclicks on an advertising link is not transported from the host web pageto the merchant's web page, but instead is re-directed to a compositeweb page that combines product information associated with the selecteditem and visually perceptible elements of the host web page. Theoutsource provider's server responds by first identifying the host webpage where the link has been selected and retrieving the correspondingstored “look and feel” information. The server constructs a compositeweb page using the retrieved “look and feel” information of the host webpage, with the product-related content embedded within it, so that thecomposite web page is visually perceived by the customer as associatedwith the host web page. The server then transmits and presents thiscomposite web page to the customer so that she effectively remains onthe host web page to purchase the item without being redirected to thethird party merchant affiliate. Because such composite pages arevisually perceived by the customer as associated with the host web page,they give the customer the impression that she is viewing pages servedby the host. Further, the customer is able to purchase the item withoutbeing redirected to the third party merchant affiliate, thus allowingthe host to retain control over the customer. This system enables thehost to receive the same advertising revenue streams as before butwithout the loss of visitor traffic and potential customers. Moreparticularly, the system may be useful in an outsource provider servingweb pages offering commercial opportunities. The computer storecontaining data, for each of a plurality of first web pages, defining aplurality of visually perceptible elements, which visually perceptibleelements correspond to the plurality of first web pages; wherein each ofthe first web pages belongs to one of a plurality of web page owners;wherein each of the first web pages displays at least one active linkassociated with a commerce object associated with a buying opportunityof a selected one of a plurality of merchants; and wherein the selectedmerchant, the outsource provider, and the owner of the first web pagedisplaying the associated link are each third parties with respect toone other; a computer server at the outsource provider, which computerserver is coupled to the computer store and programmed to: receive fromthe web browser of a computer user a signal indicating activation of oneof the links displayed by one of the first web pages; automaticallyidentify as the source page the one of the first web pages on which thelink has been activated; in response to identification of the sourcepage, automatically retrieve the stored data corresponding to the sourcepage; and using the data retrieved, automatically generate and transmitto the web browser a second web page that displays: informationassociated with the commerce object associated with the link that hasbeen activated, and the plurality of visually perceptible elementsvisually corresponding to the source page.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C”or ‘at least one of A, B, or C” is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the disclosureincludes a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied ascomputer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier,such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. Allstructural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described various embodiments that are known to those of ordinaryskill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and areintended to be encompassed by the present claims.

Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each andevery problem sought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it tobe encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element,component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, ormethod step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element isintended to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the element is expresslyrecited using the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms“comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intendedto cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method,article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not includeonly those elements but may include other elements not expressly listedor inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Therefore, the following is claimed:
 1. A method, comprising:requesting, by a merchant system in electronic communication with amerchant blockchain wallet, a merchant public key and a merchant privatekey from the merchant blockchain wallet; selecting, by the merchantsystem, a smart contract; deploying, by the merchant system, the smartcontract to a blockchain; and transmitting, by the merchant system inelectronic communication with the issuer system, the merchant ID, themerchant public key, and the smart contract to the issuer system toregister a merchant-to-smart contract relationship.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the selected smart contract is generated based on inputregarding a proposed good or service.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe invoked smart contract is secured using the merchant private key. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the merchantsystem, a transaction authorization request comprising a merchant ID, atransaction account number, a transaction amount, and a transaction IDto an issuer system, wherein the issuer system is configured to retrievethe merchant public key based on the merchant ID, the smart contractbased on the merchant ID, and a user public key based on the transactionaccount number, wherein the issuer system is configured to invoke thesmart contract by passing the user public key and the transaction ID tothe smart contract, and wherein the issuer system is configured topropagate the merchant ID, the transaction account number, the paymentamount, and a transaction status to a blockchain network for writing toa blockchain according to the invoked smart contract.
 5. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the merchant public key and the user public keycomprise blockchain addresses.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theselected smart contract comprises a return policy, a refund policy, apartial payment schedule, a full payment workflow, a service deploymentschedule, or a product delivery schedule.
 7. A system comprising: acomputing device comprising a processor and a memory; andmachine-readable instructions stored in the memory that, when executedby the processor, cause the computing device to at least: request amerchant public key and a merchant private key from the merchantblockchain wallet; select a smart contract; deploy the smart contract toa blockchain; and transmit the merchant ID, the merchant public key, andthe smart contract to the issuer system to register a merchant-to-smartcontract relationship.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the selectedsmart contract is generated based on input regarding a proposed good orservice.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the invoked smart contract issecured using the merchant private key.
 10. The system of claim 7,wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed by theprocessor, further cause the computing device to at least transmit atransaction authorization request comprising a merchant ID, atransaction account number, a transaction amount, and a transaction IDto an issuer system, wherein the issuer system is configured to retrievethe merchant public key based on the merchant ID, the smart contractbased on the merchant ID, and a user public key based on the transactionaccount number, wherein the issuer system is configured to invoke thesmart contract by passing the user public key and the transaction ID tothe smart contract, and wherein the issuer system is configured topropagate the merchant ID, the transaction account number, the paymentamount, and a transaction status to a blockchain network for writing toa blockchain according to the invoked smart contract.
 11. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the merchant public key and the user public keycomprise blockchain addresses.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein theselected smart contract comprises a return policy, a refund policy, apartial payment schedule, a full payment workflow, a service deploymentschedule, or a product delivery schedule.
 13. A non-transitory,computer-readable medium comprising machine-readable instructions that,when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computingdevice to at least: request a merchant public key and a merchant privatekey from the merchant blockchain wallet; select a smart contract; deploythe smart contract to a blockchain; and transmit the merchant ID, themerchant public key, and the smart contract to the issuer system toregister a merchant-to-smart contract relationship.
 14. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein theselected smart contract is generated based on input regarding a proposedgood or service.
 15. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium ofclaim 13, wherein the invoked smart contract is secured using themerchant private key.
 16. The non-transitory, computer-readable mediumof claim 13, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed bythe processor, further cause the computing device to at least transmit atransaction authorization request comprising a merchant ID, atransaction account number, a transaction amount, and a transaction IDto an issuer system, wherein the issuer system is configured to retrievethe merchant public key based on the merchant ID, the smart contractbased on the merchant ID, and a user public key based on the transactionaccount number, wherein the issuer system is configured to invoke thesmart contract by passing the user public key and the transaction ID tothe smart contract, and wherein the issuer system is configured topropagate the merchant ID, the transaction account number, the paymentamount, and a transaction status to a blockchain network for writing toa blockchain according to the invoked smart contract.
 17. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein themerchant public key and the user public key comprise blockchainaddresses.
 18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 13,wherein the selected smart contract comprises a return policy, a refundpolicy, a partial payment schedule, a full payment workflow, a servicedeployment schedule, or a product delivery schedule.